Now Here's A Battle Of The Egos.

The Donald ...... teed off on Gov. Ed yesterday, claiming that the 2006 decision that left him
without a Philly casino was an "outrageous" case of political insiders reaping rewards that even the mega-rich like him can't attain.Oh, and Gov. Ed is also doing a "lousy job," and puts his pals first, Trump said during a press conference in Colts Neck, N.J., the Philly Daily News reports this morning. Trump also said he'd probably avoid doing any future casino business in Pennsylvania.According to the DN's Chris Brennan, Trump's hissy fit was partly prompted by Gov. Ed's recent role in the possible relocation of the Foxwoods Casino from South Philly to the Gallery in Center City."Pennsylvania is a little too political of a state for me. It sounds like you have to be a friend of the governor to get a
casino," Trump said.The rest of today's news starts, as it always does, after the jump.

It Looks Like ...... reform advocates may have to wait until next year before they get another
crack at their Holy Grail - the state's first Constitutional Convention in 40 years.The Senate State Government Committee on Wednesday signed off on a trio of bills that would give voters the chance to authorize a state constitutional convention for the first time since Lyndon Johnson was in the White House. But it's still not clear whether the full Senate would take up the bills before year's end.And a key House committee chairwoman isn't interested in acting on them even if the Senate does approve them. Rodney Oliver, a spokesman for House State Government Committee Chairwoman Babette Josephs, D-Philadelphia, said the committee defeat of a prior bill that merely authorized lawmakers to study the possibility of a convention made it clear there wasn't the political appetite for a full-fledged convention bill. "It's unlikely there will be a vote before the end of the year," he said.Despite an admittedly bleak picture, reformers say they hope that lawmakers' election season self-preservation instincts will kick in."I'm sure we'll be hearing more about reform as November approaches," Matthew Brouillette of the conservative Commonwealth Foundation said, shortly after the bills cleared the committee on Wednesday afternoon. "They've recognized that reform has not happened through the legislative process. For Pennsylvanians to get the government they deserve, it will necessitate a constitutional convention."With just a handful of days remaining before lawmakers adjourn for the year, and a packed schedule that includes hefty energy conservation and healthcare reform bills, State Government Committee Chairman Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin, said he was "very pessimistic" about the bills' chances this year.

Woof. The Sequel.The long-debated overhaul of the state's regulation of dogs and kennels
moved a step closer to reality Wednesday when the House of
Representatives overwhelmingly approved the measure.
The bill passed the House 181-17. It now goes to the Senate, which is expected to address it later this fall.The rewritten law would double the minimum cage size, require daily
exercise and ban wire flooring on cages, cage-stacking and exposure to
long periods of extreme temperatures, among other measures, for dogs in
the state's 2,600 kennels.We got nothing else on this ... not even a lame pun about throwing animal rights activists a bone ... hey ... wait ...Legislation That Would ...... move thousands of nonviolent criminals out of state prisons
more quickly
and rein in booming correctional costs is nearing final
approval, the Associated Press reports this morning.The bill, regarded as the biggest change to the state's criminal
justice system in many years, cleared the Senate on a 48-2 vote,
after the chamber made minor changes to it.The key provisions would allow nonviolent drug offenders currently in
prison to be resentenced to enter an addiction treatment program, while
nonviolent offenders who behave well and complete certain programs can
trim time from their sentences and be paroled more quickly, the AP reported.The House is expected to give final approval to the bill next week.The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission ...... is looking to the private sector for help in finishing the Mon-Fayette
Expresswaybecause it can't afford to do it on its own, the Post-Gazette reports this morning.It'll cost about $5.2 billion to complete the unfinished sections of the highway, which links one part of nowhere to another part of nowhere in southwestern Pennsylvania.Stumbling across a kind of privatization that he likes, TPCCapo di Tutti CapiJoe Brimmeier told a bunch of construction executives yesterday that 52 miles of the highway are "up for grabs."We're asking you to create a team with financial capacity and
technical expertise and come back with concepts and solutions," Brimmeier said during a conference at a Holiday Inn near Harrisburg.In exchange, the TPC says it's willing to throw in for free up to 63 miles of the expressway and beltway already built or under construction to the company or joint venture that comes up with an acceptable proposal, the P-G reported.And if you act now, we also understand that they'll throw in a new toaster as well.

Did We Say A Week?The federal corruption trial of state Sen. Vince Fumo will now be delayed for a month while U.S. District Judge William Yohnconvalesces from an illness, the Inky reports this morning.State Agencies ...... are scrambling to meet Gov. Ed's edict to trim their spending and to tighten their belts, the Patriot-News reports this morning.We've got two words: Bake Sale.

The Irrepressible ...... John Morganelli was in Bradford County yesterday where he took a
swipe at Republican AG Tom Corbett for failing to sufficiently throw the book at a Bradford County woman was who convicted of stealing $500,000 from a local water authority.According to The Daily Review of Towanda, Corbett's office prosecuted Brenda Mott, who swiped the cash from the Canton Borough Water & SewerAuthority when she was its bookkeeper.Corbett's office engineered a plea deal with Mott. But the sentence she was received was lighter than those doled out to people who stole a comparable amount of money and she hasn't made enough restitution, said Morganelli, whom you no doubt know by now is running against Corbett in November. The story doesn't say how much jail time Mott received, nor how much she was ordered to pay in restitution for her offenses.But if he'd been in charge, Morganelli said he would have dipped Mott in honey, rolled her in oats and set her in a field of fire ants ... kidding ... what he actually said was:"I would not have accepted that," he said, adding that Corbett's office did not take "[the Mott case] seriously."If Corbett's campaign had a response, it's been lost to the sands of time. Either that, or The Daily Review didn't actually call them ...In The Dark (Literally).There's a good chance that inmates at the state prison in Somerset County will be without electricity for the next few days.Prison officials were testing a generator at noontime yesterday when they started experiencing problems, the Corrections Department said. By 2 p.m., the whole prison had lost power, and was also having problems with its telephone system.Prison officials say they stepped up patrols to make sure no one
slipped away in the hustle and the bustle. Just to be on the safe side,
visits have been suspended until further notice.

What Goes On.The House Commerce Committee holds a 9 a.m. hearing this morning on legislation sponsored by Rep. Mike McGeehan, D-Philadelphia, allowing lenders and homeowners to enter into mediation to avoid foreclosures. This one's in hearing room one of the Keystone Building. State Republicans, meanwhile, will gather 10 a.m. in the Capitol Rotunda to hold a press conference decrying electioneering (by Democrats, we assume) at the polls.

Helping You Plan Ahead.
This one's for all you downtown inhabitants who stash your cars in the
Capitol complex to avoid having to pay for parking in Harrisburg.
According to the Capitol gendarmerie, Commonwealth Avenue, along
with North and South Drives (the two roads on either side of Soldier's Grove between the Finance Building
and the State Library) will be closed from 8:15 a.m. to 10 a.m. for
something called the annual Nami Walk.
Capitol police humbly request that you remove your vehicles from those
areas for the duration of the event. It's not clear what'll happen if
you don't, but we can't think of a good reason to tempt fate.

Because we are running seriously late this morning, we're going to dispense with the pop culture niceties for now and simply post this morning's dispatch. Check back later today for a special Capitol Ideas Thursday listening selection. Also remember to register for state news e-mail and text updates at Twitter.